'Terrible conditions' but finals contender banks precious points

The Warrnambool and District league A grade outfit shook off fellow finals aspirant Timboon Demons 29-19 in "terrible conditions" to create some distance in fifth position on the table - a game clear and considerable percentage.

Fleming praised her group's ability to adapt to the wild weather which greeted the netballers on Saturday.

"They were terrible conditions, very tough but I thought the girls played really well," she said.

"(On Saturday) It was all about playing the short game, we spoke a bit about that in the warm-up.

"Putting in extra passes through the thirds, I thought we executed it really well. The girls played patiently and we managed to get control over those things."

Katelyn Grant's underrated season continued with another commanding individual performance while Fleming was impressed by the work of the defenders to shut down the Demons' attacking threats.

"Katelyn has this amazing ability to keep us in the game, especially at the start with her intercepting," she said.

"Rachel Waterson was another, she always closes her player out of the game, and Zoe (Fleming) was good in defence, she just tightens us up."

Fleming said it was one of the rare times this season the Dogs were at full strength and was pleased to see it come together.

But she warned the group needed to quickly move on towards a huge clash against Kolora-Noorat next week.

"The focus for us is now Kolora, they'll be equally tough," she said.

"We've had our lull this season, but today we had everyone back which was really nice to see.

"Last week we had one out, but we've started to rebuild. It gives us a lot of hope knowing that we'd have everyone back for a tough game."

Russells Creek, meanwhile, sprung a major upset to down Old Collegians and put a dent in the Warriors' finals hopes.

The Hannah Van Zyl-coached Creek, a much improved outfit, won 35-23 at Mack Oval in an impressive showing in horrid weather conditions.

Nirranda, meanwhile, secured a 46-30 win on the road against Kolora-Noorat, Merrivale did what it needed to do in its 59-23 against Panmure while Allansford had to work hard to overcome South Rovers 33-18.

The ladder has tightened up considerably with only a handful of rounds left with eight points separating fourth from sixth while Merrivale and Allansford look likely to be battling it out for second spot in the remaining weeks before finals.